


The Day Magnus Bane Hunted a Ghost

by TheFoolsKnight



Series: Lbotw Countdown Event [11]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Horror, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mild Gore, Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26236810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnight
Summary: The Lightwood-Banes are having a true old-fashioned sleepover, complete with a horror story.
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood & Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Lbotw Countdown Event [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890874
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	The Day Magnus Bane Hunted a Ghost

Magnus turned on the torch, lighting up his face and casting strange shadows across it in the small space between them.

“So,” he said with an eerie smile. “Who wants to hear a scary story?”

Outside the building, a thunderstorm was raging on in full swing. Lightning crackled, followed by rolling thunder which had brought a frightened Max running into Magnus and Alec’s bedroom, followed by Rafael creeping in slowly after. Now, all four of them were huddled under a blanket, with Alec and Magnus sitting cross-legged while facing each other and their children in their laps.

Max frowned and shrank into Alec’s arms. “No! No scary!”

“Yes!” Rafael shrieked, his face lighting up.

Magnus grinned at him, and then looked at Max. “Why not, Maxie?”

“Scaredy cat,” Rafael snorted, his syllables a little slow. He was still learning English after all.

“Not scaredy cat!” Max protested, sitting up straighter with a pout.

Alec laughed and kissed Max between his horns. “It’s okay, baby. Bapa and I will be right here with you.” 

Max relaxed a fraction, and with another smile, Magnus began the story.

"Many, many years ago, when I was living in England, a mundane woman came to my door asking for help," Magnus said in a low voice. Alec, Rafael and even Max leaned in closer, hanging on to every word, while the thunderstorm continued its onslaught outside. "She said that she was experiencing strange things in her house. Clocks stopped working, things would fall apart with no explanation, and only the other day, her cat died mysteriously."

Max looked upset at the thought of a dead cat, but Magnus went on.

"And the woman's daughter was acting very strangely. She would roam around the house during odd hours of the night, and leave the house for hours at a time before she returned with no memory of where she went to. So the woman asked me to help her sort out these strange events, and I agreed to help her. She let me stay in her house until we solved the mystery. The house was occupied only by herself and her daughter. The father had passed away a long time ago.

"The first night, I didn't sleep. I sat in the armchair in the room, waiting for anything strange to happen. For a long time, everything was fine. Then, at exactly three in the morning, the clock in my room stopped ticking. I waited with bated breath, and then, I heard a sound from the living room. It sounded so sinister, like the crackle of a demon's laughter. I stepped out of my room, slowly creeping down to the living room. And there, I saw-"

Magnus lowered his voice, eyes flicking between Max and Rafe, and gave a small dramatic pause before he exclaimed, "A ghost!"

Max yelped, and Alec held him closer. Rafael only gasped, hanging on to every single one of Magnus’s words. 

"And it wasn't just a ghost," Magnus went on, waving his hands as magic sparked about his fingers. "But a ghost possessing the  _ daughter's _ body!"

Alec leaned in towards Magnus. He couldn't help but be drawn to the story. 

"She was sitting in the living room, wearing a long white dress, and was doing something turned away from me. I stepped closer to her, trying to see exactly what she was doing, when she turned around. Do you want to know what she was doing?"

"Yes!" Rafael yelled, his eyes glowing with excitement to the point where Alec was concerned. Max on the other hand was hiding his face in his hands. 

"She was-" Magnus gasped dramatically. "She was covered in grave dirt and blood, and was holding a piece of broken wood in her hand. At her feet was a mangled dead body!"

Rafael gasped. "Was she  _ eating _ it?"

Magnus paused and frowned at Rafael, looking somewhat concerned. "No, she was simply playing with it."

"Oh." Rafael slumped down, mildly disappointed. Magnus looked at Alec, his eyes a little wild.

Alec simply shrugged. Rafael's intense interest in horrific things was a little concerning, but it was harmless. Magnus nodded, and went on with the story.

"She had dug up the body from the nearby graveyard, and had been cutting it open with a piece of broken furniture. I tried to stop her, but she started screaming and woke up everyone in her house. Her mother and many other servants had come rushing into the living room, and were horrified to see the girl. She was thrashing around, trying to escape, but I locked all the doors. With some difficulty, I trapped her with a spell, and made her tell her story."

Magnus leaned in, his face taking on a serious expression. "Her name was Mary. She used to live in a faraway place, and even had a little baby. But one day, an evil man broke into her house and killed them both. She had turned into her ghost and, ever since then, looked for her baby everywhere. Sometimes she would dig up graves and look through the people's bodies, or even break furniture open to see if her baby was hidden there. But she never found her baby. I banished the ghost of Mary from her body with a strict warning never to possess people again and cast protective spells over the whole house so that she never returned there again. But," he added. "Legend says that Mary is still out there, searching for her baby. And when you chant 'Bloody Mary' three times in front of a candlelit mirror, she'll appear and see if her baby is nearby. And if she sees a baby that looks hers-" Magnus smiled his eerie smile again. " _ She'll carry you away." _

Max gulped. "What does her baby look like?"

Magnus smiled down at Max. "He's small, has blue skin, and two tiny little horns on top of his head."

Max let out a long whine, turning and hiding his face in Alec's sweater. Alec shot Magnus a sloppy reprimanding look. " _ Magnus." _

Magnus grinned and ruffled Max's hair. "I'm just joking, my little blueberry."

Max pouted.

"How will you fight demons if you're afraid of ghosts?" Rafael said, looking at him with an upraised eyebrow.

"Ghosts scary," Max protested. "Demins not scary."

"Ghosts are not scary," Rafael said. Then he added, "Can we summon Bloody Mary?"

"No," Magnus said. "Your brother will get scared. You don't want Max to get scared, do you?"

Rafael frowned, flicking his eyes over to Max for a moment before grumbling out a "Fine."

"Now," Magnus said, kissing Rafael's cheek and turning off the torchlight. "Let's go to sleep."

"I can't believe you actually met Bloody Mary," Alec said into the dark, long after Max and Rafael were asleep. "I thought she was just a story."

"All the stories are true, Alexander," Magnus said. "Even the ghost stories. The ouija boards, the possessed dolls - they're all real. Although, some of the 'ghosts' in the stories are actually trickster faeries - like the one with the lady who scars your mouth with a scissor. If the story involves a ghost asking a person some questions and then killing them, it's probably a faerie."

Alec nodded, although Magnus couldn't see it. "What about slenderman?"

Magnus sighed. "Poor guy. He's just a warlock with extra long limbs for a warlock mark."

"And bigfoot?" 

"Don't be silly, that's not real," Magnus laughed. Then he shifted in the darkness and asked. "How do you know so much about mundane horror stories anyway?"

"Simon," was all Alec offered for an explanation. 

"Ah," Magnus said. "Please don't tell him any of what I said, or I suspect he'll be after me for more details. It can't be good for him, growing up with all those scary stories and then learning that they're real."

"I suppose so," Alec said, patting Max, who was curled into him, fast asleep. "He'll find out one day, anyway."

"Maybe," Magnus replied. "Until then, let him live in his blissful obliviousness."

"Sure." Alec yawned and stretched out a hand, placing it on Magnus's. "Good night."

"Good night," Magnus said, lacing his fingers through Alec's. 

They slowly fell asleep as the thunderstorm calmed outside, their children cuddled up between them.


End file.
